Beating Basso Like a Drum

We haven't heard much about or from Giro d'Italia champion Ivan Basso (at left/photo by Graham Watson) since his CSC team dropped him from their Tour de France lineup.
Now, even if his name is cleared in the Spanish doping investigation, team manager Bjarne Riis says he could be dropped from the team altogether.

"Not everything is about the law," Riis told Danish daily Politiken on Tuesday.

"Basso must not only prove his innocence in court, he must also prove it to us. I find it difficult to believe Basso has a future with CSC -- unless he is totally cleared."

Basso was one of nine competitors withdrawn before this year's Tour De France after being implicated in the scandal which surfaced in May after the Spanish Civil Guard found anabolic steroids, laboratory equipment and frozen blood in several raids.
"It's not so crucial what I think but it is crucial that the evidence he is up against is very incriminating," Riis said.

"The way I see it, even if Basso has just been in contact with Fuentes, he has lied to me and betrayed the team and our values. Then he's finished with us," Riis said.